Ed's A Cat?
by Punkin717
Summary: "Ed woke up slowly, as usual. But something felt off. Groggily, he opened his eyes. Everything seemed... bigger. Even the chair he was in seemed many times larger than when he had fallen asleep." One day, Ed wakes up a neko. But not only that, he's 3 inches tall! What happened, and how can they fix it?
1. Ch 1: What happened?

{[Chapter 1]}

Ed woke up slowly, as usual. But something felt off. Groggily, he opened his eyes. Everything seemed... bigger. Even the chair he was in seemed many times larger than when he had fallen asleep. He had fallen asleep trying to find leads to getting their bodies back, so he was in a chair and still in his clothes. He looked around the room, but didn't see Al. Even while doing this, though, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something, other than his size, was off. He looked around himself, still sleepy. He noticed that it seemed very dark over him. He looked up slowly. "A-Al? W-why are you so big? Why-" he asked, but then stopped. Al had that look in his eyes that, even though his soul was all in that empty suit of armor, he could still muster. It was the look of when he found a cat, mixed with a large amount of confusion. Ed looked around to try to find the cat, but saw nothing. Nothing out of the usual with him either, same outfit, same automail, same cat tail- Just then he saw it. A cat tail! He reached over and grabbed it, pulling in order to bring out the cat it belonged to. Instead, he felt a pull on his lower back- where a tail would be. Slowly, he turned around and saw that it was on him! He stood there silently, wondering about this when the shadow he was in got darker. He looked up. Al reached down to him and picked him up. "Hey, Al! What are you doing?" he asked, still tired and very, very confused. Why was he tiny, and more importantly, part cat? And why wasn't Al listening to him? Al brought Ed up to his face. He stared, silent. Finally, he spoke. "Nii-san? Is that you" Ed looked at Al oddly. "Of course it it, who else could it be?" he asked. Noticing Al didn't seem to hear, he nodded vigorously. Al stood there, frozen. From the way Al was holding him, Ed could hardly move. "Hey, Al!" he shouted up. When there was no response, Ed grabbed Al's finger with both hands and squeezed. Al still didn't notice. Ed started squirming around, in hopes that might alert him. Al looked down. "Nii-san, what's wrong? Oh, sorry." He released his grip and just laid his palm out flat. Ed readjusted himself to a more comfortable position and sat still. He still didn't get what had happened, or how. He got deep into thought when Al started talking to him. "Nii-san, what happened? Why are you part cat and cat-sized?" He thought he saw Ed's miniature mouth moving, so he brought him up closer to his head. He heard his older brother's voice, tiny in his new cat body. "I don't know, I thought you did! And stop moving so quickly, or at least give me a warning. I almost fell off your hand!" Ed complained in his new voice, which sounded normal to him, although Al's seemed much louder and deeper. He ran his fingers through his hair, combing it when someone knocked on the door. Suddenly, he felt them- cat ears. His eyes grew wide. He remembered that they were on military grounds, and not only that, ones that Col. Roy Mustang works on. "Fullmetal. Are you in there?" Mustang asked after knocking. "You're going to miss breakfast!" Ed looked up at Al's head. Ed did not want the colonel to know about this. Just another way to pick on me, he thought. Although, someone would figure it out. He was, after all, a state alchemist. He was important in certain ways. And Winry had come in the past day to check on his automail. What could they do about that? "Colonel! Oh, um, come in!" Al said, not knowing what else to do. Ed was not happy with this choice, and tried to tell Al that, but he couldn't hear. He grabbed Al's thumb and squeezed as hard as possible with both hands and arms. "Sorry!" Al muttered, but Ed heard it fine. But before he could do anything else, Col. Mustang and Lt. Hawkeye walked in the room. "Huh? Where's Fullmetal? And what's that you're holding?" the colonel asked Al, "Is that a cat?" Mustang and Hawkeye walked over to him. Ed blushed deeply. This was going to be torture for him. Real torture. Both Mustang's and Hawkeye's eyes grew wide when they saw Ed. He put his hands on his head in attempt to cover his ears, but what about his tail? Well, he thought, I'm sitting down, so they might not see it.

"Is that... Edward?" Hawkeye asked, in shock. Ed shook his head, but Al nodded. They decided to believe the latter. Mustang leaned over and picked up Ed by the coat. He squirmed around, kicking and waving his arms at Mustang to try to get him to put him down. However, this didn't do much, and all too late he realized that his ears and tail were showing, and they were all staring at him. "How did he get like this?" Mustang asked, still confused but also laughing at Ed. This made Ed kick around more and more in attempt to get the colonel. Al grabbed Ed back from Mustang, and Ed sat down, angered. "We don't know. He just woke up like this. What do you recommend doing?" As much as Al knew that Ed hated the colonel, he was an adult and may be able to help. Ed looked up at Al, which, to see his head, was quite high for him. Suddenly, the phone rang. Al ran over to pick it up, but in the process almost dropped Ed. In fact, he was clinging onto Al's finger for dear life. Al lifted him back onto his hand and then picked up the phone. "Hello?" he asked into the phone, ignoring Ed yelling at him from below. "Oh, hey Al. I made it to Central!" Winry said happily. Both of them heard her voice coming from the phone. "Winry?" the brothers asked together. She was supposed to come in the next day. "What? You seem surprised. I managed to get on an earlier train! You guys want to come to my room?" Ed and Al looked at each other. What could they do? There was only one option: to accept. "Yeah, sure. There's... something we need to show you, anyway. What's your room number?" While they were talking, Mustang and Hawkeye left the room. Mustang burst out laughing. "Colonel, I know he's not your best friend or anything, but please don't tell anyone about Edward. Just give him that. Please." Hawkeye asked of Mustang, her commander.  
"Is that an order? From my lieutenant?" he chuckled, "Alright. For now." Al walked to Winry's room, holding Ed in a way so that he wouldn't fall but also so that passing military officers would not see. He knocked quietly on the door. "Hey, guys. Is that you?" Winry asked through the door. "It's me," said Al, "May I come in?" Winry opened the door. "Al? Where's Ed? And are you holding something that is supposed to be hidden or something?" Ed was squashed up against his brother's armor. Why was this happening? And how could they fix it? "I'll explain later. May I come in?" he repeated, a little more urgent. "Oh, yeah, sure. Come on in." 


	2. Chapter 2: Dreams are Memories

{[Chapter 2]}

"So, what's up?" Winry asked Al, slightly suspiciously, "Did you find another cat?" "Uh, yeah, in a way. Let me show you." Al brought Ed away from his armor slowly, as to not let Ed fall. Ed looked up at Winry and saw her staring, wide-eyed at the sight of Ed shrunken down with cat ears and a tail. "I-is that E-Ed?" Ed looked at her, not sure what to do or say. Suddenly, she leaned over and picked him up like how Al had. She brought him over to her face to get a closer look. Ed realized right then how very much he had shrunk. Standing, he was probably 3 inches now, including ears and antennae. "E-Ed, is that you?" "Yeah," he said loudly so that she could hear. But loudly to him sounded like someone was whispering to her. Still, she heard, and then stiffened. "B-but how? What happened?"

"I don't know. I woke up like this. I still feel mostly the same, though. I even have automail still, I think." "Ed, can you speak up some?" Winry asked, as it was hard for her to hear him. Ed covered his ears- cat ears, that is. "Not really. I'm talking as loudly as I can. In fact, it's starting to make my throat hurt. But can you speak a little softer? It hurts my ears, you're speaking so loudly." He yawned and stretched, saying, "Wow, I'm still really tired." Al and Winry started talking in hushed voices. Ed curled up in Winry's hand and soon drifted to sleep. Winry looked down at Ed. "Sleeping again. But this time, he's completely in the palm of my hand..." She looked over Ed to see if he was hurt in any way, shape, or form without waking him up. She pulled up his pant leg just enough to see that he did have tiny automail, so tiny that she would have a lot of trouble fixing it if it got broken. And he was so small, someone could actually step on him. He was not the size of a cat, he was the size of a kitten. What could they do to get him back? Was it possible? And how did it happen in the first place? What could she do? "Al, we need to get him back. Right now, he's so tiny and fragile, and..." At the mention of the word 'tiny,' Ed tensed up in his sleep. Winry laughed quietly. "He really doesn't like being so short, does he?" Ed tensed up even more at 'so short' so that he was just a tense ball of kitty-Ed in Winry's hands. She laughed again. "I hope he grows up to be tall so that he won't do this every time he's called short. That would be bad if he did that as an adult. Don't you think, Al?" Al wasn't listening. He was staring at his older brother and wondering what to do. Did that mean they had to get both of their bodies back now, not just Ed's arm and leg? How would that work? What had happened to him? This didn't make any sense. Suddenly, he heard Winry calling his name. "Al! Hey, Al! Are you listening?" "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking, what can we do? He can't stay like that. He couldn't walk down a hallway like that, much less find a way to get our bodies back and then fight to make it happen!"  
Winry sighed, "Do you two always have to be fighting? It makes me nervous."  
"I'm sorry, Winry, but we have to do whatever it takes to get our bodies back, right? Anyway, I'm going to go get back on studying how to get our bodies back. I'll come visit later."  
Al went back to the room that he and Ed shared. He began studying once more and then realized something- Al had not been in the room when Ed changed into a cat. Ed had fallen asleep, and he had gone on a walk, and when he came back, Ed was part cat and tiny. Which opened a few more possibilities to how it had happened. However, Al still couldn't think of what it could have been, so he kept studying. He was not only reading up on how to get their bodies back, he was reading about anything that could make him a better alchemist. Suddenly, he came across something that made him stop in his tracks. Is that what happened to his older brother?  
Winry didn't know what to do. She was left alone with a sleeping cat-Ed in her hands, so what was there to do? Slowly and carefully, she took the hand that was supporting the hand cradling Ed away from underneath. She flexed her fingers, realising how long it had been. How long could Ed sleep, even as a cat? Noticing he was still tense, she stroked him down the back, staying completely on his backbone. He relaxed his body at the touch.  
"Just like a cat…" she whispered to herself. Ed as a cat was actually kinda… cute, was it? Maybe he could stay like this for a few days. She lifted him gently onto her shoulder and put him down softly. There, he could talk to her and she could hear him fine, and she could also talk softly to him, maybe even in the hallways without anyone noticing, but then she would have to hide Ed. Suddenly, she thought of something. She undid her hair to let it fall down around her and then moved some of it to act as a curtain around Ed. She walked carefully to the mirror to check her hiding skills. Sure enough, Ed was completely hidden. She heard Ed waking up next to her ear.  
"Ed? Are you waking up?" she whispered to him. Clearly, she heard a response.  
"W-Winry? Where am I?" Ed asked, followed by a yawn.  
"You're, um, on my shoulder. Remember what happened?"  
Suddenly, he did remember. He reached up onto his head and felt his cat ears, still there. "Oh, yeah. This is a bit risky, though, since I could easily fall off. Do you mind if I transmute something on your shirt, or can you give me something to use to make it a bit safer? I don't want to fall off and get hurt badly, so… You get what I mean?"  
"Yeah, I guess you could do something. Just don't do too much to my shirt, ok?"  
Ed clapped and placed his hands on her shoulder. Nothing happened. Not even any energy showed up to help. Ed gasped.  
"Ed, is there a problem?" Winry asked, hearing Ed's deep intake of breath. She felt his tiny gloved hands hit her shoulder over and over. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Don't tell me… Didn't it work?"  
Ed put his head in his hands. How had this happened? He was tiny, part cat, and couldn't do alchemy? What could he possibly do now?  
"Ed? Are you okay?" Winry asked him when she thought she heard him crying. Then she realised what he was really doing: laughing hysterically.  
"What else could go wrong? What happened to my life?" he asked while still laughing crazily. "May as well do anything now. What else could happen?"  
Just then, Al burst into the room. He had run from their room to Winry's in a matter of minutes, as he thought he found out when had happened to Ed.  
"Nii-san! Winry! I think I know what happened!" Al exclaimed excitedly. "Huh? Where is Nii-san?" Winry pulled away her hair to show Ed laughing uncontrollably on her shoulder. "W-what happened? Why is he laughing like that?"  
Ed stopped laughing slowly and told Winry to bring him over to Al. She carried him over to Al and then set him down on his hand. Ed climbed up the bumps and ridges of Al's arm, sometimes slipping a little but otherwise flawless. Al kept his hand under Ed anyway, in case he lost his balance. After a few seconds, though, he was next to Al's head.  
"Nii-san, that was some very... Cat-like climbing you did a second ago."  
Ed covered his ears. "Not so loud, ok? It hurts my ears," Ed replied in a voice only Al could hear. Even Winry, standing a few feet away, had trouble hearing him with his soft new voice.  
"Anyway, I tried doing alchemy."  
Al was confused. They did alchemy so often, why was this special? "And?"  
"It... d-didn't... w-work. At all. Not even any energy."  
Al froze, silent. If his brother couldn't do alchemy, then... They would have to change him back, and quick.  
"Al, you were really excited earlier when you ran in. What's the big news?"  
"I think I found out what happened. But you won't like it. Not at all."  
Ed started to laugh again. "What could possibly make this any worse? Other than few certain people I don't want to see... But I've already seen the colonel today, so..."  
"Ed, I think someone turned you into a chimera."  
Silence. Winry heard that part, too. She remembered being told the story of Nina and Alexander Tucker, and the brothers' reaction. Sure enough, Ed rested his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. Winry thought she saw his shoulders shaking. Was he... crying? Edward Elric? She looked at him, not knowing how to comfort him. Was there any way? Would he come to an end like poor Nina and her dog?  
"Ed..." She lifted him off Al's shoulder and put him down on her bed. He didn't move at all during that process, except for shaking uncontrollably. Ed had become an illegal chimera, and Mustang and Hawkeye knew, if they didn't spread the word. What would happen to him?  
"Nii-san... Listen. Last night, I went on a walk after you fell asleep. When I came back, you were like this. My idea is that someone may have come, kidnapped you while I was out, and then brought you back. I may be wrong, but..."  
"So it wasn't a dream… I really was taken to the fifth laboratory last night…" 


	3. Chapter 3: Life in Slow Motion

{[Chapter 3]}

"What are you talking about, Ed? 5th laboratory? Isn't that closed?" Winry asked, completely confused. Ed was still shaking. Winry laid down on the bed, her head next to where Ed sat on her pillow. Al explained what happened with all of the chimeras they had ever met, starting with their visit to the Tucker household and ending with where they were then. She thought about what she could do to comfort him, with his new size. She sat up and picked Ed up once again, placing him carefully on her lap. She scratched him behind his blonde cat ears, as one would to a cat. His shaking stopped and she thought she heard a sound similar to a pur coming from Ed. Al looked at him, hearing the noise. He stared at his older brother. Had he really just… purred? If they couldn't fix him, would he be able to have his older brother and his dream cat?  
"Ed… Did you just…?"  
Ed didn't respond. It was true. He had purred. His life was going down the drain. What could go wrong now?  
There was a knock on the door. The three teens looked at each other. Ed ran behind Winry's pillow to hide from whoever it was. Al composed himself while Winry walked over to answer the door.  
"Oh, hello, Colonel, Lieutenant. Come in." Winry let Mustang and Hawkeye into the room. She offered them chairs and they sat down. They ignored the fact that her eyes seemed a little watery, putting it off as allergies instead of tears. But really, she was crying for Ed's sake. What could they do? Was it possible to fix him? "What are you doing here? Any specific reason?"  
"We came to see the Elrics. They weren't in their room, so we assumed they were here. I guess we were half right. Speaking of which, where's Fullmetal?" Mustang answered her, and presented her with a question of her own.  
"He's… uh… not here right now. He went out… on a walk… He needed some fresh air," Winry lied quite badly, as she was not the type to lie often. "Miss Winry, please tell us the truth. I already know of his current state. Is he hiding somewhere in here?" Hawkeye tried a gentler approach.  
Winry blushed beet-red. What was she doing, lying to not one but two military officials? Ed had better be happy about this.  
"Oh, Winry. I was supposed to take your bed sheets while I was in here. May I do that now?" Mustang asked slyly. Although this may be going a bit far…  
What could she do now? Ed couldn't hide much longer, but could she spare him a few minutes? She pulled the pillow over towards her first, giving Ed a chance to run behind her but not so slowly as to look suspicious. She then picked up the pillow and pretended to scratch her back while really lifting Ed up onto her shirt. She stood up and handed it to the colonel, who was looking for Ed, sure he had been there.  
"Miss Rockbell, the Colonel and I already know of Fullmetal's current state, so if you would please remove him from the back of your shirt, it would be greatly appreciated."  
Winry flushed a deep red, saying, "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, Colonel," then, after a moment, adding, "And you, too, Ed."  
Ed clung onto her shirt, not knowing what to do or what she was going to do. It was too late when he saw her hand, strong from work yet soft and caring, come around to grab him. He tried to scuttle away but failed miserably and was caught by the boot on his undersized foot. She pulled him out, not knowing what she had grabbed him by. He dangled upside-down from her inescapable grasp, his face bright pink. Lieutenant Hawkeye held in her laugh, a slight smile dancing on her lips. Colonel Mustang, however, gave no attempt to hold in his laughter and peeled over, his hands on his knees for support as he was laughing so hard. Al and Winry, instead of laughing, noticed his blush and also that he seemed a bit faint. Al realized a second too late what was happening.  
"Winry! All the blood is rushing to his head! He's going to-" Al shouted, but was interrupted by the sight of his brother's foot slipping out of his boot, making him fall head-first towards the floor four and a half feet away. From quick mental math, Al realized that was the equivalent of over 95 feet in Ed's current size. That would mean that the fall would definitely be… fatal instantly. If they couldn't catch him, his older brother would die! Al dove to try to catch his only brother, the one who saved his life, saying, "Winry! Catch him!"  
Winry didn't know what was happening. Everything was going in slow motion. Al started to say something, and then Ed had started to slip. Mustang's laughter had slowed and he had looked up as Hawkeye's eyes grew wide at the sight of Ed falling. Al had dove in attempt to cut his fall almost all the way as everyone leaned forward. Around then, Winry became conscious of herself and her position. She bent over, reaching down to catch her childhood friend. 


End file.
